You Really Got a Hold on Me
by igothroughphases
Summary: When the famous singer Jessica Day comes into town, her guitarist bails on her, but Nick Miller comes to the rescue. Little does Jess know that Nick fell for her from the moment he first laid eyes on her.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my very first New Girl story. I do not own any of the rights to New Girl or She & Him's music.**

 **Enjoy!**

It was supposed to be the biggest concert of the year in LA, and Nick, Schmidt, Coach, and Winston – who were all roommates – had tickets to see the band She & Him _live_ at _Nick's bar_. They were one of the most popular bands in the state.

The bar was overflowing with people, and all those people were there to see the two; it was too bad they were only performing three songs, but all the guys wanted to see Jess, the main singer.

As Nick was cleaning beer glasses behind the counter, the other three guys were talking about what they would do to just talk to Jess, one-on-one.

"I'd do just about anything," Schmidt said, after taking another sip of his Bud Light. "I mean, she's amazing, she's talented, she's beautiful; but have you seen her childhood best friend who got her into the entertainment business? Her name's Cece and she is _smokin'._ I'd tap that for sure."

"That's a bit creepy. Also, when we get home, you're putting ten bucks in the jar," Nick said.

"Well," Coach began, "I'd probably pay the usher fifty bucks to see her. I'm sure I could live without talking to an amazing singer. I've talked to J.J. Watt before. _He's_ a celebrity. Isn't that enough?"

Finally, it was Winston's turn. "I would kill a robber."

The three just stared at Winston. "What?" he asked. "It's not _that_ morbid. It's justice! And like Schmidt said, she's really talented, and it's amazing how she doesn't even use autotune in her recordings."

"Winston, _every_ singer uses autotune," Coach said, squinting his eyebrows. "It's just not as noticeable with some singers 'cuz they don't have fake music in the background."

Confused, Winston looked at the counter with his eyes widened and his eyebrows furrowed. "So _that's_ why Selena Gomez sounds so amazing…"

Ignoring Winston, Nick checked his watch. It was 7:09. They were supposed to be out by 7:00.

"Hey, guys," Nick announced to the group. "I just gotta go to the bathroom." He was usually really bad at lying, but not this time, for some weird reason. He had to check on them to see if they were okay.

There was a 'lounge' near the women's bathroom where Jess and her boyfriend – the guitar player – were preparing. When Nick was outside the door, he heard muffled shouting. Not wanting to "intrude," he held his ear up to the door to listen to the two.

"I thought you were done with her!"

"Jess, look, I'm sorry, okay?! I didn't know what I was thinking! I was drunk!"

"Oh, yeah, you were drunk! Do you _really_ expect me to believe that?!"

"I mean—"

"It's still no excuse to cheat on me, Spencer! I-I gave you a second chance already... I can't give you another one."

"Jess, what're you saying?"

"I'm saying that you should get out. I don't want you performing with me anymore."

*Pause*

"You need me, Jess. You need me!"

"No, I don't! I _can_ live without you!"

"Who's gonna play guitar for you? Huh?"

"I don't know, Spence! I'll find a person! Now just get the hell out of here and be with that...girl!"

"Her name is _Michelle."_

"GET OUT!"

After that, there was silence in the room, until Spencer came out of the room, making Nick jump. He rushed right past him, making Nick a bit worried about the concert. A portion of the ticket profits was going towards his bar, and he didn't want people to ask for refunds.

He stared at the closed door, wondering if it was a good idea to knock on it or, hell, even _open_ it. But finally, he built up the courage to knock on the door and say, "Ms. Day? Is everything okay? It's me, Nick Miller, the owner of the bar. We talked on the phone?"

"Yeah, you can come in," she said through the door. Nick gently opened the door, only to find Jess, sitting on a wooden stool, wiping her eyes. She was dressed in a fitted, black dress, with her hair curled. Nick couldn't stop looking at her. Jess looked up at him, but then looked back down at the floor. "I don't know if you knew this, but...my guitar player kind of...bailed on me at the last minute, so...I won't be able to perform tonight."

"Oh," Nick responded, acting like he didn't have any knowledge of what just happened. "Well, I personally know a guy who can play all your songs without sheet music. I bet he would play for you."

Jess looked up, her eyes nearly glowing. "Wait, seriously?" she asked, with a smile slowly forming on her face. "Y-You'd do that for me?"

"Well, yeah. You're incredibly talented, Ms. Day, and I –"

"You can call me Jess."

"Sorry – Jess – and I'm willing to help you. So what if your guitarist ditched you? You're gonna be amazing no matter what."

"Actually, the guitarist is – _was_ – my boyfriend, so...that's why I'm obviously crying right now." She laughed, as she wiped a finger below her eye to get rid of her tears. "And if I'm crying, I can't really perform for an audience..."

Nick let out a quiet sigh. He didn't want to have a bunch of people asking for refunds, but he also didn't want Jess to feel terrible and quit being an amazing singer. He suddenly walked towards Jess and got on his knee to meet his eyes with hers. "This is a lot to ask of a broken heart, but you need to forget about that jerk. At least just for tonight. I know that I'm a stranger, and I know that break-ups are tough – I'm...I'm going through one myself – but there's a crowd of people out there who all love you. They came here to see Jessica Day, not Jessica Day and some dude who half of these people don't even know."

Nick's little 'speech' made Jess smile and, surprisingly, stop crying. "Alright," she mumbled. "I'll do it. For _me, not_ for Spencer." Suddenly, she stood up, inhaled, exhaled, and then, she said to Nick, "Could you tell everyone that I'm only performing one song tonight? I-I don't think I can handle three songs."

With a nod, Nick said, "Will do." As he was walking out of the room, he stopped and asked, "Which song? I need to tell my friend, so he knows which one to play."

"Oh, yeah, right," she said with a laugh. "Um... How about 'I Could've Been Your Girl'?"

Nick smiled. "Sounds good."

And with that, he walked out of the room and rushed to the bar counter. "Winston," he said nervously, standing in front of his roommate. "I need you to play the guitar for Jess."

Winston's jaw dropped, along with Coach's and Schmidt's. "I'm sorry, what?" He looked behind him, then turned back to Nick and inched his head closer to his. "Are you saying," he began in a whisper, "that _Jessica_ Day needs _me_ to play the guitar for her? _While_ she sings?"

"Yeah. Can you play the song 'I Could've Been Your Girl'? Her guitarist was a dick and bailed, so I offered her your, uh, skills."

"Oh, hell, yes!" Winston said excitedly, jumping out of the bar stool and grabbing the guitar case right next to the stool. "I've been waiting for this moment for two years, man!"

"Why did you bring your electric guitar here?" Coach asked, but Winston just ignored him and rushed up to the stage – with the drummer and bassist – to set up his guitar. Nick followed him not long after.

"Hello, everyone," he said in the microphone, making everyone somewhat silent. "My name is Nick Miller – I'm the owner of this bar. Don't worry, Jess is almost ready, but she'll only sing one song for us, due to some unexpected events."

From the bar counter, Schmidt whispered to Coach, "Have you ever heard Nick say the words 'unexpected' and 'due' when he wasn't reading off of a piece of paper?"

"No. Never."

The two stopped talking and continued to listen to Nick. "Enjoy the show!"

"What about Spencer?" an audience member asked before Nick could leave the stage. "Is he gonna be here soon, too?"

"Um." He didn't know what to say; he knew he could say that he and Jess broke up. "He's sick and had to leave. _BUT_ we _do_ have Winston Bishop!" He began to clap for Winston and, since no one else was clapping with him, he ran off the stage, making the audience continue talking.

Right as he went behind the bar counter, Nick felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket. He grabbed it and saw that Jess was calling him – he knew he had to pick up. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said through the phone with a small sniffle, "everything's fine. Thanks for what you said."

He smiled. "No problem. Now get out on that stage and show this bar how talented Jessica Day is."

"Alrighty," she said, right before she hung up the phone. Nick laughed to himself. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw Jess, exiting the lounge and walking up on the stage, making all the audience members cheer.

 **That was chapter one! Hope you liked it!**

 **~ MJ**


	2. Chapter 2

**M'kay, here's chapter two! I apologize if there are any typos or mistakes. I'll try to post new chapters daily!**

 **Enjoy!**

"Hello, Los Angeles!" Jess said in the mic, and everyone cheered a bit louder. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but, like Nick said before, I'll only be performing one song for you tonight. But it'll be worth your while."

Winston, the drummer, and the bassist started playing the intro, as the audience began cheering even louder than they were before.

Ignoring the cheers, Jess began to sing.

" _It doesn't matter, if I were willing_

 _It doesn't matter that the lights are turned down low_

 _Oh oh_

 _I know you have to go_

 _It doesn't matter, I fought my heart_

 _It's broke and shattered to a million and one_

 _I'm done_

 _I guess I haven't won_

' _Cause I could've been your girl_

 _And you could've been my four-leaf clover_

 _If I could do it over_

 _I'd send you the pillow that I cry on_

 _It doesn't matter, I'll just be gone_

 _And if you see me_

 _Just move on_

' _Cause we_

 _Are free_

 _And never meant to be_

' _Cause I could've been your girl_

 _And you could've been my four-leaf clover_

 _If I could do it over_

 _I'd send you the pillow that I cry on_

' _Cause I could've been your girl_

 _And you could've been my four-leaf clover_

 _If I could do it over_

 _I'd send you the pillow that I cry on_

' _Cause I could've been your girl_

 _And you could've been my four-leaf clover_

 _If I could do it over_

 _I'd send you the pillow that I cry on..."_

Nick smiled when Jess finished the song. Unlike Coach and Schmidt, he didn't cheer so loud that his throat would hurt the next day, but he just smiled widely and clapped as loud as he could.

"Thank you!" Jess said into the mic over the applause. "Thank you, Winston, for playing guitar! And thank you, Nick, for letting me perform here tonight!" As she said that, Nick could notice a single tear, trickling down her face. "Thank you, LA!"

Jess dashed off the stage and toward the lounge, making Nick's smile disappear. _Don't do anything stupid, Nick,_ he thought, but he couldn't help it but run after her, and he didn't even bother knocking. He spotted her on the same stool, with her face buried in her hands.

"Jess," he said with a sigh, "I'm sorry if Winston wasn't that good. He's a mediocre guitar player and has never played in public. He's decent, but I know he's not like Elvis."

"Nick." Jess lifted her head up to look at him with her eyeliner, running down her cheeks. "This is the nicest thing that _anyone_ has _ever_ done for me." She got up from the chair and began to slowly walk toward him. "Thank you."

The feeling of having a celebrity say 'thank you' to you was an unforgettable feeling for Nick Miller – mostly because it's never happened to him before. "It was no big deal," he blurted out. "I-I mean, it _was,_ but... Y'know."

Jess laughed at his shaky voice but then sighed. "Hey, um..." she began. "Is it okay if I, um, sleep in here tonight? I was...gonna crash with Spencer, but I don't wanna go all the way back to San Francisco on a bus to see him..."

"Here?" Nick asked, pointing his fingers down. "You wanna stay _here,_ out of _all_ places?"

"Well, I mean, hotels are too public, and I don't trust their bathrooms – they have a weird smell. I mean, I was planning to stay in LA for a week or so – I even _packed_ – and I was going to stay over at Spencer's friend's house, but–"

"You are _not_ staying here, Jess. A person like _you_ should get to sleep in a real bed, not some bar lounge. You're stayin' at my place."

In shock, Jess's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I'm serious. It's an average-sized loft with four bedrooms, and one of them is a guestroom; but...there's one setback." He paused for a dramatic effect. "I live with, um, three other guys."

"I'm sure I can handle crashing with four guys," Jess said with a laugh. "I mean, I barely know you, and you might be some stalker, but I'd rather stay in a loft than a lounge." She paused for a moment. "Wait. If you live with three other guys and you have one guest room, do you share a room with someone?"

"Yes, ma'am. He insisted on having a guest room because he, um..." Nick did not want to tell her that Schmidt hooked up with girls almost every night – that would've made an interesting first impression. "He works a lot, a-and sometimes he stays up really late, so the guest room is basically his office and his second room." For once, he wasn't telling someone a full-on lie. Schmidt _did_ sometimes work late.

"Alrighty then." Jess grabbed her pink suitcase and threw her blue purse over her shoulder. "I guess I'm staying with four guys instead of one this week."

 _This_ week _?!_ Nick thought. _She's staying for a_ week _?!_

Nick didn't respond to her comment, but instead, he gave her a thumbs-up and an awkward smile as she walked out of the lounge and into the bar with her suitcase and her purse. To Nick's surprise, everyone else had already left, even the guys – the bar was empty.

As he followed her to the exit, Nick's stomach was overflowing with butterflies. He literally thought butterflies were going to rush out of his stomach and swarm throughout the bar. Did he _like_ Jess? He barely even knew the girl – he _couldn't_ be falling for her. She was a _celebrity,_ and _he_ was an average 30-year-old guy who owned a bar and lived with three other guys.

"Sorry," Jess said, snapping Nick out of his train of thought. She was just about to exit the building. "Do you have a car, or did you take a cab or an Uber? Spencer was my ride home..."

"O-Oh, um, yeah, my car's just in the lot," Nick stuttered as a response, as he walked in front of her, hoping she would follow him out the building. "Follow me."

Thankfully, she _did_ follow Nick to his run-down, red car, which was right outside the exit. "You can put your stuff in the back seat – the trunk's really messy."

In silence, Jess did as Nick told her to do and then entered the passenger seat of Nick's car, and he was already in the driver's seat. She slightly turned her head to look at him and, thanks to the glare of the moon, Jess could see his face, covered in a thin layer of sweat, making her feel a bit awkward.

* * *

Jess and Nick didn't speak during the car ride home, or when they went up the elevator.

The two were standing outside the apartment. Jess scanned the door, and the main thing that caught her eye was the bold characters that read '4D'. "So, this is where you live?" she asked, with her right hand holding onto the handle of her suitcase.

"Yep," Nick answered. "It's not really luxurious, but a home is a home, amirite?" At this point, he was just making a fool out of himself – he knew this because Jess just gave him an awkward smile as a response. "Well, get ready to meet the others."

"Oh, boy."

 **There's chapter two! Thank you so much for reading, and if you like this story** **or** **if you have any suggestions for future chapters (or even stories), don't forget to leave a review!**

 **~MJ**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! Okay, I'll** ** _try_** **to update as much as I can, but I have a lot going on this week, so don't kill me if I don't post a new chapter every day. That would be much appreciated. :)**

 **Enjoy!**

As soon as Nick opened the door to the loft, both he and Jess could see three men – Winston, Coach, and Schmidt – dancing to the song 'Dancing Queen'. It was easy for Jess to say that they were drunk. One of them had a bagel in his mouth as he danced. (Schmidt.)

"Guys," Nick called out, trying to catch their attention, but they didn't stop dancing. They looked like idiots. "Guys," he said once again, but a bit louder this time. Still nothing.

"GUYS!"

 _Third time's a charm_ , Nick thought. Even Jess was a bit startled. They all turned their heads to Nick to look at him, but immediately spotted Jess, who was right next to him. "Jess is gonna stay here for a few nights, okay? She'll stay in the guest bedroom, so, Schmidt, don't... _work_ in there until she's out."

None of them responded. They were still shocked by the fact that _Jessica Day_ was in their house. Coach paused the music, and the three of them stood in a horizontal line, still staring at Jess with their jaws dropped.

"Alright, Jess," Nick said, walking into the loft with Jess right behind him. He started pointing at them from right to left. "You already kind of know Winston – he played the guitar for you tonight; this is Schmidt, and this is Coach."

Schmidt's bagel fell out of his mouth before Jess could say hi. "I'm Jewish," he said, trying to act casual when really, he was internally screaming.

"Nice talk," Nick mumbled, as he motioned for Jess to follow him. She politely waved goodbye to the three when she followed Nick to the guest bedroom. As they walked away, Coach, Winston, and Schmidt stared at each other with wide eyes.

"Guys," Schmidt whispered. "Jessica Day is staying in _our_ loft."

And with that, the three started to quietly squeal.

"Sorry, they're not used to having a conversation with celebrities."

"No, it's fine – I'd be the same way."

The walk to the guest room was brief, thankfully – Jess was exhausted. When Nick opened the door to the guest room and turned on the light, she was shocked at how much space there was. Even with a queen-sized bed and a huge desk, the room still had a lot of open space. There were huge windows, there was a bright, blue carpet on the floor that looked really fuzzy, and there was a closet that could fit Jess's entire wardrobe. "Wow," she whispered in shock. "This is one _big-ass_ room."

Nick laughed at her strange comment/reaction. "Yeah, I was gonna take this room when I first moved in here, but I didn't like the huge windows. If the windows weren't there, I would've taken this room."

"Well, _your_ loss is _my_ gain, man."

All Nick could do was nod with a huge smile on his face. "Alright. Well, if you need anything, my room is just across the hall. Literally, it's _right_ across the hall." He slowly began to back away from her room. "Goodnight, Jess."

"Wait."

The tone of her voice made Nick look up at the back of her head, where she had layers and layers of thick, black hair. She finally turned around and began to walk into the hallway until there were only three feet in between them, meeting her eyes with his. Her big, blue eyes nearly made Nick's jaw drop. "Nick, I don't know if I've said this already, but...thank you. This really means a lot to me, and I... Can I _pay_ you or something?"

"What? No, Jess, you don't have to do that."

"Well, then, what can I do? This... This is _way_ too nice of a stranger to do."

Nick shook his head with a smile on his face, as he looked down at his feet. "Alright," he said, looking back into her eyes. "I'll think of something by the end of the week. How does that sound?"

Jess nodded slowly and subtly. "Sounds like a deal."

There was an awkward moment of silence between the two, where they made intense eye contact with one another, but Jess eventually ended it by saying, "G'night, Nick."

"G'night, Jess."

They both entered their rooms and closed their doors at the exact same time, thinking the same thing: _What the hell is happening?_

All the guys were gathered around the kitchen island, while Jess was still sleeping. It was almost 11 AM – Schmidt was making eggs as the others were talking.

"Look, guys, she'll only be staying here for a week," Nick said after taking a sip of his coffee. "After that, I'm gonna help her figure things out, okay?"

"Nick." Winston leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Are you assuming we _want_ her to leave? Dude, Jessica _freaking_ Day is living with us. Well, temporarily staying with us, but that's not the point – the point _is,_ I don't care if she stays here for more than _ten years_! She's a _celebrity_! She can come over anytime!"

"I think ten years is kind of a stretch," Coach said with his eyebrows furrowed.

" _I'm delighted_ to have her over," Schmidt stated with a creepy smile, as he handed out bowls of scrambled eggs to the guys and an empty spot next to Nick for Jess. "I can tell my coworkers that Jessica Day is sleeping under the same roof as me – then...I'll get that promotion for _sure._ "

"Please don't make a big deal out of this, Schmidt," Nick announced. "She's just getting out of a relationship and she's a bit emotional right now. I heard her cry-singing 'Somebody That I Used to Know' about ten times...in the middle of the night. Like, _three_ in the _morning._ "

Of course, Winston _had_ to ask: "Did she sound good?"

Everyone stopped chewing their scrambled eggs and stared at Winston. "Guys, it's a _legit_ question. Actually, I've been wondering: do singers sound better when they're crying or when they have a cold?"

"Winston, _nobody_ cares," Coach stated on behalf of everyone in the room, and then turned to talk to Nick. "Do you know how long she's gonna stay here for?"

"She said for about a week – she was planning to stay in LA for a week with her boyfriend, but that jerk who calls himself a 'guitarist' broke up with her."

"Wait. Her guitarist was her _boyfriend_?" Winston asked.

Everyone just sighed at his comment. Even though Nick didn't know this until yesterday, he would've thought that _Winston_ – out of _all_ people – would know, since he's a cop and everything.

There was suddenly a random knock on the door. The guys looked at the door, then at each other, then at the door again. Finally, after a few seconds of staring, Schmidt walked up to the door and opened it, only to reveal a woman – a very _beautiful_ woman with light brown skin, long, dark brown hair, chocolate-colored eyes, a flawless complexion, and a black dress that presented her curves perfectly. Schmidt just couldn't stop staring into her perfect eyes.

"Hey," she finally said. "I'm Cece, Jess's friend. She texted me and told me she was crashing here?"

 **That was a shorter chapter, but hey - a chapter's a chapter.**

 **~MJ**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, this chapter was a bit rushed, but not really.**

 **Enjoy!**

Before Schmidt could respond, Jess rushed to the door in a pair of polka dot pajamas and glasses with thick, black frames. "Cece!" she said. "Hey! Come in, come in!" Hesitantly, Cece accepted the invitation into the loft, as she looked around at the old, brick walls.

"Hey, babe, are you okay?" she whispered to her friend. "You don't seem... _broken_."

"Broken?" Jess asked with a laugh. "Why the heck would I be _broken_?" Before Cece could speak, Jess led her to the guest bedroom, quietly closed the door and locked it. Suddenly, she broke into tears. "I... I'm broken..."

"Oh, honey..." Cece pulled her friend into a tight hug. She began to slowly rub her back in an attempt to comfort her. "I'm so, so, so sorry... You're too good for Spencer, anyway. He doesn't deserve you. You're kind, caring, talented, funny, smart, beautiful, and an amazing person and friend – he's just a low-life with long hair and mediocre guitar skills."

"I... I miss him...so much..." Jess said in between sobs, not even hugging Cece back. "I mean, I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"No. No, no, no, no, no. You did _nothing_ wrong. If _anyone_ did _anything_ wrong, it's Spencer. He cheated on the most amazing girl in the world."

Hearing Cece say the words 'Spencer' and 'cheated' in the same sentence just made Jess cry more. "Okay, Jess," Cece said, pulling her away from the hug and looking into her eyes. "Tell me this: do you feel comfortable staying with four strangers? Who are _men_?"

Jess responded in between sniffles. "They seem nice."

"Yeah, but how can you trust them? How do you know they won't murder you or steal your stuff?"

"Cece, I'm fine – I'm not a twelve-year-old and you're not my mother. If I can handle guys on the streets, I'm sure I can handle these guys."

With a cocked eyebrow, Cece asked, "Why are you comparing creeps on the streets to _these people_?"

"I don't know – I say random things when I'm hungry! You out of _all_ people should know that!"

"Okay, I feel like you're more hangry than hungry..."

"That's _probably_ the case!"

"Well, I'll let you eat," Cece said with a sigh, as she started opening the door to exit, "and when you're not hangry anymore, call me so you can talk like Jess – not crabby Jess, alright?"

Jess hesitated before she responded with, "...Fine, but _I'll_ call _you_ , okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

The two didn't talk after Cece spoke. Instead, they exchanged smiles, Cece exited the loft subtly without getting the guys' attention, and Jess stayed in her room, plopping herself on the bed. She thought about how much she wanted to strangle Spencer and his hoe of a girlfriend – _actually, she_ could _be a really nice hoe,_ she thought. But at the same time, she wanted to hug him and strangely braid his long, brownish hair.

There was a random knock on the closed door, making Jess jump off of the bed and onto the floor. "Hey, Jess?" a voice said on the other side. "It's Nick – Schmidt made scrambled eggs and was wondering if you wanted some. Also, the guys wanna talk to you about some stuff they apparently _can't_ tell _me_ about, but, um, don't feel like you need to talk to them – they're not as normal as they look."

"I'll...I'll be right out," Jess responded, as she slowly stood up from the floor.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine – just a bit tired."

"Okay... Well, come out whenever you're ready."

"'Kay."

When she knew Nick was gone for sure – by listening to his footsteps – Jess looked into the desk mirror to see if she looked at least somewhat presentable. _Wait. Why am I checking to see if I look okay?_ Jess thought, as she groaned and quickly walked out of the room, but as she was getting closer and closer to the dining area, she slowed herself down a little. She spotted the four guys at the table, all eating their eggs. "Um," she mumbled, trying to get their attention. "What's up?"

All of them look up from their eggs and, since his back was facing her, Nick casually turned around to look at her. All they could do was stare, but Nick seemed pretty calm, for the first time in forever. "Oh, the eggs are right here," he said, pointing to the seat to his left and turning around, back to his eggs.

"Yes, well, _I_ made them," Schmidt randomly stated with a grin on his face, as everyone (except for Nick) watched Jess sit down – she just ignored their stares and ate the eggs.

After about five minutes of eating and complete silence, Jess said, "So Nick told me you guys wanna ask me something?"

"Oh, yeah," Schmidt continued. "My _boys_ and I were wondering—how long will you be staying here?"

"Okay, Schmidt," Coach said, "put a dollar in the jar. How many times do we have to tell you that 'my boys' is _not_ a thing?"

With a sigh, Schmidt stood up from the table and went to the counter near the couch to put money in the so-called 'Douchebag Jar'. Right after, he went back to the table to sit down and hear Jess's response.

"Well, uh," Jess began, "I'm kind of going through a break up right now and I don't really have a place to stay. I mean, I'd stay with Cece, but she already has someone living with her and her apartment's _really_ small. So, um, I'd say...about a week at the most. I only have a week's worth of clothes anyway, so—"

"You could wash your clothes _here_ anytime," Nick spat out, but his eyes widened when he realized what he just said. Jess turned to him. "As _long_ as you're here, you could always wash your clothes, because, um, it would just be a lot of work for you to, uh, ask us to drive you to a laundry...place. That's what I _meant_ to say."

 _Couldn't he remember the word 'mat'?_ thought Schmidt, holding back the urge to roll his eyes.

"Thanks, Nick." Jess didn't know whether to feel grateful, weirded out, or both; she assumed both, so she acted like she was _just_ grateful. She then turned back to the group. "But, yeah, that's basically my living situation for now. If you guys want me to stay somewhere else—"

"No, no, no, we'd love to have you," Winston interrupted. "If you have to stay here for three years, that's fine – we can manage, right, guys?"

"Um, thanks, but I don't think I'll need to stay here for three _years,_ " Jess responded with a laugh.

"But if you're gonna be living with us for more than a week, I gotta ask you something: are you allergic to cats?"

"...No...?"

"Y-You said that like you didn't know the answer, but I _need_ you to answer _honestly_. Are you allergic to cats?"

"Winston, I'm pretty sure she'd know whether she's allergic to cats or not," Schmidt said. "Just make sure Ferguson doesn't shed everywhere – I have a... _client_ coming over tomorrow, and she's mildly allergic to cats."

"Ferguson?" Jess asked.

"Oh, Ferguson is Winston's ex-girlfriend's cat."

"Uh, nuh-uh," Winston declared, "He _was_ Daisy's cat, but now he's mine, and he will forever be mine and _only_ mine."

Schmidt gave Jess a smile. "We have fun here."

 **Alrighty, that was chapter four! Please leave a review if you liked what you read, or DM me for suggestions. :)**

 **~MJ**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay. Here's chapter five!**

"Well, thanks for letting me stay here, guys," stated Jess. "Oh, and, um, I have a random question – do you guys own the movie _Dirty Dancing_? Y'know, the one with Patrick Swayze?"

"Yeah – I think Schmidt has a copy," Nick replied. "Right?"

"That's an understatement – I have the signatures of the two main actors on the movie box. It cost $50, and that does not include shipping and handling... I paid $56..."

"What?!" Coach yelled. " _That's_ why you couldn't pay your share of that one dinner with my family?!"

"Coach, I _had_ to buy it."

"Um, no, you _didn't_!"

"Okay, guys," Jess interrupted. "Simmer down now. I just wanted to know whether you had _Dirty_ _Dancing_ or not."

TWO DAYS LATER

Jess began to cry hysterically while she was sitting on the couch, watching the last scene in Dirty Dancing, as the four guys observed her from the kitchen island. This was her ninth time watching it in the past two days, and she only stopped if she either called her mom (or Cece), got a snack, went to the bathroom, got more tissues, or went to bed.

"You brought an emotional rollercoaster into our apartment," Coach whispered to Nick over the loud sobs. "A _famous_ emotional rollercoaster, but an emotional rollercoaster."

"At least she's not listening to those really cheesy country songs about breaking up with your 'true love'," Nick whispered back.

"...Okay, fine, it's not as bad as _that_ , but it's still bad."

Suddenly, Ferguson jumped up on the couch and curled up against Jess's thigh, purring heavily and loudly – so loud that Jess took her eyes off the TV screen to look at the cat, who was just getting comfortable, closing its eyes. The site of the cat made Jess stop sobbing, but she was still sniffling. "Hey, Ferguson," she said in a clogged up, high-pitched voice. "I bet you've broken a lot of hearts – I mean, _look_ at you! You're the cutest damn cat on the planet."

From afar, Winston stood on his tiptoes to see if Ferguson was doing anything naughty to Jess, but to him, it looked like Ferguson was trying to comfort her. "Aw, would ya look at that?" he whispered. "My little boy's growin' up..."

Without giving him any looks or saying anything, Schmidt and Coach walked away into their rooms, while Nick hung back with Winston, still watching Jess and Ferguson interacting. Winston had a large grin on his face, whereas Nick was wearing a blank expression upon his.

But suddenly, Winston left with a smile on his face to go into his room, leaving Nick all alone, staring at Jess, who was still petting the cat. There were still traces of tears in her eyes, making Nick feel terrible. She didn't deserve to be this sad over a jerk who cheated on her. So, Nick willingly walked toward the couch to talk to Jess so she wouldn't have to keep talking to the cat-like an insane cat lady.

"Hey, Jess," he mumbled, plopping himself down on the other side of the couch to keep a safe enough distance away from Ferguson. Jess looked at him, surprised at the fact that he wasn't forced to talk to her. "How's the movie? Would I like it?"

She sniffled while asking, "You've _never_ seen _Dirty Dancing_ before?" This made her laugh.

"Nope, and I'm not ashamed."

"Well, you _should_ be – this movie is a classic."

"I've seen a lot of classics."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

" _Star Wars_ , _Indiana Jones_... and others, too."

"Two classics aren't gonna cut it, Miller."

The fact that Jess just called him 'Miller' blew Nick's mind – only his high school friends called him that. Well, his high school friends, minus Winston. "And exactly _how_ many have _you_ seen?" he asked.

Without saying a word, Jess looked to her right and spotted her purse, pulled a folded, lined piece of paper out and handed it to Nick. The paper contained two columns with movie names, and on the top of the paper, it read 'The Movies I've Seen' – Nick's jaw nearly fell off of his face. "You've seen a lot of movies," he whispered loud enough for Jess to hear.

"Yeah, a lot more than just the _Star Wars_ and _Indiana Jones_ movies. Personally, my favorite classic movie is _The Godfather_ – the first one, of course, because the third one is trash, and the second one was good, but not, like, my favorite in the trilogy."

"I've...never seen it."

"Um, what?" Jess's eyes widened, as she adjusted her whole body to face Nick instead of the TV. "Okay, sometime this week, we're gonna watch the first _and_ the second – you can't say no."

Nick let out a laugh. "Alright. Sometime this week, I'll watch it with you. Sounds good?"

"Yeah, but you gotta shake on it."

"Shake on it? What is this, 4th grade?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." As she said those words, Jess stuck out her hand for Nick to shake and, to her surprise, he actually did shake her hand. "Okay, now you can't back out."

"Yes, ma'am."

The two sat in silence after that – it was too awkward to bring up a new topic after an uncomfortable handshake.

* * *

Within those next three days, Jess didn't watch Dirty Dancing, she watched The Godfather with Nick, found a twenty-dollar bill on the street while walking to a coffee shop with Nick, and whenever she was either crying or about to cry over Spencer, Nick would rush into the room, his laptop in his hands with several funny cat videos queued up for her and him to watch together.

Nick, Schmidt, Coach, and Winston were gathered around the sofa, with Nick on one side and the other three on the other side. "So..." Nick said. "Why did you guys wanna talk to me?"

"Nick, it's been _six_ days," Winston began, "and you and Jess haven't looked at _any_ apartments or houses _or_ condos. For her."

"Yeah? What's your point?"

"Dude," Coach jumped in, "you said she'd only be here for about a week, and it's been almost a week."

"Wait – I thought you guys were okay with this. Winston, _you_ were the one who said she could stay as long as she wants."

"Actually, didn't she say that she'd only be staying for a week when we had that meeting with her?" Schmidt asked, but no one answered his pointless question – the conflict was no different.

"Guys, I'm _letting_ her stay." Nick paused for a second, trying to find the right words to say in this situation. "I... I like her, alright? I'm just starting to move on from _Caroline_ , and she broke up with me _six months_ ago – I thought I'd never move on."

All the other guys could do was stare at Nick with shocked (yet subtle) expressions on their faces.

 **Looks like things are about to heat up, amirite? ;) Oh, just so you guys know, the next chapter** ** _might_** **contain** ** _some_** **smut, but I don't know for sure yet.**

 **~MJ**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, there isn't any smut in this chapter, but there** _ **will**_ **be in the next chapter - I promise. Also, the timeline of this story is a bit messy compared to the show, so be prepared to be confused, and I apologize if there are any typos.**

 **Enjoy!**

"So..." Coach began, "you think you have a chance with a celebrity? No way, dude. She's not gonna have sex with you. I mean, I'll admit, _I_ thought about the same thing a week ago, but –"

"Coach, I didn't say I wanted to _sleep_ with her, I said I _liked_ her – there's a major difference."

"Well, liking someone could lead to having sex with them, and that leads to getting married, having kids, and then...no sex at all."

"Okay, have I thought about a future with her? Yes! But that's _only_ because I had a really strange dream about it." Nick stopped talking for a second. "Alright, fine, I'll tell you about the dream!"

"We didn't ask you –"

"It all begins seven years in the future." He looked up at the ceiling, with his head tilted. "We live in a house on the lake in her hometown – Portland, Oregon. We have two kids who are strangely _so_ creative, they _named themselves_ – they're always so afraid of disappointing us, so they always get amazing grades in school, it's scary. We live in a town with houses that all smell like cider on the inside. All the kids at our kids' school are jealous of their creativity. I'm an author in my spare time and a lawyer fulltime, and she owns a bookstore, where she promotes and sells all my novels and stories. Every year for our anniversary, we go on a cruise which travels around Europe and it's all-inclusive. Our kids both go to Oxford – one becomes an actor; the other becomes a family therapist. We die together, in each other's arms, when we're 91 years old. And then the dream ends there."

Once again, the guys were silent. The amount of detail that was in Nick's dream was unbelievable. "What the hell was that?" Schmidt asked. "It was like a frickin' Russian novel! I know you're a writer and all, but what the hell, man?! You can't tell her about this dream!"

"I wasn't planning on it, you idiot!"

"What are you planning to do, Nick?" said Coach. "Are you gonna ask her to move in, even though you guys only met a week ago?"

"Well, she's technically already living here, and she doesn't live anywhere else, so...I guess I will."

"Dude. She's a girl. I need to be able to come home from work, sit on this couch, and let my beans out – I say no."

"Wait, so now we're voting?"

Everyone else nodded, wanting to share their thoughts about Jess moving in. "I mean," Winston began, "she's really nice and cool and all, but like Coach said, she _is_ a woman, and it'll be kinda weird to shower with a woman around – come back to me."

"Okay, I guess I'll go," Schmidt stated. "Remember when she said all her friends were models, including Cece? Well, if that's true, I say she's in. Winston, you can finally move on from Daisy if you let Jess move in – it'll change your world, my friend."

"Alright, so that's one person for no, and two for yes." Nick eyed Winston. "You're the tiebreaker, dude."

"What? Why _me_?"

"'Cause if you say yes, she's in; if you say no, we'll have to do Rock, Paper, Scissors."

"You don't 'do' Rock, Paper, Scissors, Nick," Schmidt stated. "You _play_ it."

"Whatever, same thing. That's not the point – Winston, you gotta choose."

Not making eye contact with anyone else, Winston stared at his feet, thinking about moving on from Shelby; whether Jess would make a positive or negative impact on the loft; if she'd take care of Ferguson; if the moon landing was fake – finally, he came to a decision. "Alright, fine. She can move in, but she has to follow some rules."

"We _all_ have to follow rules, Winston – not just Jess," Coach said, and he seemed to be accepting the fact that he'd have to live with a woman, which was surprising to the rest of the group.

"Alright, I'll go tell her," Nick blurted out, as he stood up from the couch and quickly walked to Jess's room.

* * *

" _Wait,"_ Cece said through the phone. " _You think you like one of the guys in the loft?"_

Jess sat on her bed in a towel, holding the phone up to her ear. "Well, I mean, _he's_ the one who helped me get over Spencer – Nick. Y'know, the one who always dresses like a lumberjack?"

" _Yes, I remember."_

"But...I don't know _why_ I like him – he's clearly broke; he's irresponsible; he and Winston think the moon landing was fake, but he's just...there for me. He cares about me in a way that no guy has ever cared about me, including Ryan."

" _Well, Ryan_ had _to move away, remember? He got the job offer in England and you were too caring to force him to stay with you."_

"We tried to date long distance, but the time difference was too much for both of us – when he was working, it was the middle of the night. I had to stay up until four in the morning, waiting for a phone call from him. But that's not the point – Nick cares about me, and I care about him."

" _Okay, listen to this scenario: Nick has lint on his sweater – do you tell him about it, or do you just pick it off without saying a word?"_

"I mean, I'd pick it off, of course."

" _Yeah, you're into him, girl – this is more than just your average school girl crush."_

"I kinda figured, since I had a somewhat erotic dream about him last night. And the night before."

" _Wait, what?!"_

"It was really weird, like a porno, but... _not_ a porno, y'know what I mean?"

" _Not really, no. Gavin just likes watching porn alone, but he doesn't ever wanna roleplay."_

"Oh, my."

" _We're not talking about me, we're talking about_ you – _how much do you like Nick?"_

"Um...a lot."

" _And has he ever looked for houses with you_ or _even mentioned the_ idea _to you?"_

"...No..."

" _Girl, he obviously wants you to move in. That room is basically a guest room, right? And he didn't have you sleep on the couch for the past five or six nights, did he?"_

"No, he let me sleep on the guest bed – what's your point?"

" _I think I made it pretty clear that he wants you to move in. I even said it. With words."_

Thinking about whether Nick actually wanted her to move in or not, Jess said, "Hey, I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow for coffee, right?"

" _Yeah, I'll see ya then."_

"'Kay, bye."

" _Bye, and don't do anything stupid with N-!"_

Jess hung up the phone before Cece could say anything else. She sighed and stood up to get a change of clothes from her suitcase. She stood up in front of the bottom of the bed, removing the two towels – the one covering her body and the one covering her hair.

"Hey, Jess," she heard Nick's voice say, as he slowly opened the door. "The guys and I were –" He could clearly see Jess's naked body, but for some reason, he didn't look away. He just...stared – it was almost as if he were hypnotized.

"NICK!" Jess shouted. "Why didn't you - G-Get the hell out!"

Finally snapping out of his trance, he quickly exited the room, slammed the door shut. Jess's face felt hot, and when she looked in the mirror, her face looked like a frickin' tomato. "Oh, my God..." she whispered, slapping her palm on her forehead. Not long after her moment of shock, she finally started to get dressed – she thought that if she dressed in a bunch of layers, Nick wouldn't picture her naked anymore. She obviously wasn't aware that he'd be thinking about it for at least the next three days.

Nick quickly rushed back into the living room with the guys, his eyes widened. When he sat down, he caught their attention. "You okay, dude?" Coach asked. "Did she say no?"

Staring at the floor, Nick mumbled in a flat tone, "I saw Jess naked."

All their jaws dropped when they heard the sentence. "What do you mean, you 'saw her naked'?" asked Winston, squinting his eyes.

"She just got out of the shower and she was just about to get dressed and I didn't knock on the door."

"Nick, what do you expect _us_ to do about this?" Schmidt asked. "Tell _you_ how to tell Jess that you're sorry?"

"Kind of, _yeah!_ "

"Well, sorry, dude," Coach began, as he stood up from the couch and started walking toward the door, "but I gotta go to work, and when I say, 'go to work,' I really mean I'm going to the bar, so I don't have to feel awkward while listening to my roommate's problems."

"Yeah, no offense, Nick," Winston began, "but I'm with Coach on this one. I don't know how to talk to women who I wanna hook up with. I've been outta the game for way too long, so you _know_ you can't trust _my_ advice."

The two walked out of the apartment, leaving Schmidt and Nick alone. "Nick, if you want me to go to the bar with them, I _will,_ but if—"

"Just go with them, Schmidt."

Right as Nick said that, Schmidt dashed out of the apartment to catch up with Coach and Winston, leaving Nick to sulk. But Jess soon crept around the corner and asked, "Where did everyone go?"

As Nick heard her voice, his head shot up, making their eyes meet. She seemed so casual – she had a regular smile on her face, and she wasn't sweating uncontrollably. "Um, they, uh," he stuttered, "they went out to a bar to meet...childhood friends."

Jess awkwardly nodded, as she walked over to the couch to sit down across from Nick. "Hey, um..." she began, "can we…talk about what happened?"

"I mean, I guess, but what is there to talk about?" He began to laugh nervously.

"Well, you _kinda_ saw me naked, so there's _that_."

"Alright," Nick said, his smile quickly disappearing. "The reason why I went into your room is the guys and I were talking, and since you've been here for six days now, and you and I haven't really looked at places to live for you, we were wondering if you wanted to move in or not."

Jess's eyes were filled with shock. She didn't know how to react – was she supposed to be happy? "Um," she mumbled, "c-can I have some time to think about it?"

"Oh, yeah, of course, take your time," Nick responded. "But we kind of need to know by tomorrow night." He felt terrible, forcing her to decide within twenty-four hours. "Take your time, though."

Jess nodded, and with that, she walked to her room in silence.

* * *

Two weeks passed, and Jess decided to move in with the guys. Of course, she had to get all her stuff, which was in San Francisco with Spencer and his new girlfriend, Michelle – that was probably one of the worst days of her life, yet it was also one of the best. She let all her feelings out on him, and after she got all her stuff back, the last thing she said to him was, "Suck it, Mr. Krabs."

Jess also took a break from touring the state of California from all her concerts – she realized that she needed a break. She got a part-time job at a fast food restaurant, and even though it was a part-time job, she still had been getting a lot of money from selling merchandise and selling her songs on Spotify. The guys learned to befriend her, and they taught her how to play 'True American,' the signature drinking game of apartment 4D. Sometimes Cece would come over, and she and Schmidt would talk for long periods of time. He smiled, she laughed; Cece even forgot that she had a boyfriend.

* * *

Cece and Jess were in the bathroom, shaving their own legs near the bathroom sinks while talking about random things. Their hands were covered in shaving cream, and just as Cece was washing her hands, Schmidt and Winston walked into the room and nearly shrieked.

"What the hell is happening right now?" Schmidt asked loudly, sounding furious yet scared.

"It's a little something called self-care, my friend," Jess responded. "Plus, it feels really good to have shaved, smooth legs, but it sucks to have to do it every other day...when it's warm outside."

"TMI."

"C'mon, Schmidt – it's _shaving_ , not human anatomy, dingus."

"Well, I'm sorry for not wanting to hear about your Bigfoot legs in Winter. That'll be torture."

"Whatever. We need to –" Right in the middle of her sentence, Jess's phone buzzed and, since her hands were covered in shaving cream and Cece's were, too (again), she asked Schmidt and Winston, "Hey, can one of you guys check my phone?"

With a sigh, Schmidt walked toward the sink and picked up Jess's phone. "Is it worth it to have shaved legs, not being able to pick up your phone?" Jess gave him a death glare, making him turn his head over to the phone to read the text. "From Teddy: 'In town – would love to see you. Wanna have drinks tonight?'"

Suddenly, Nick popped out of the bathroom stall, surprising everyone. "Who's Teddy?"

"How long have you been in there?" Winston asked, disgusted.

 _ **(FAST FORWARD TO THE END OF THE EPISODE "VIRGINS.")**_

"So, is Teddy the kind of firefighter who hung back with the dogs?" Nick asked, making rapid circles with his thumbs, as he stood seven feet away from Jess, who was just about to walk through the door to meet Teddy at The Griffin.

"No," Jess replied. "He straight up _fought_ fires." She paused to think about what she was about to do. "Wh-What do _you_ think I should do?"

Nothing could come out of his mouth – all he could do was stare at Jess in her eyes...her ocean blue eyes. Since nothing was said, Jess quickly walked out the door, closed it and went into the elevator to meet Teddy; but a hand stopped the elevator from closing, and when the doors opened, Nick was standing right there, as he began to walk to Jess.

"What're you—" She was interrupted by her own gasp, as Nick picked her up in his arms.

"Let's not think about it," he whispered, walking out of the elevator with Jess in his arms. He had left the apartment door open, and when he entered the apartment, he gently kicked the door. Once he heard it close, he quickly walked to his room. He looked at the bed, then at Jess with a passionate look in both their eyes.

 **HA! Cliffhanger! Sorry. But I promise that there will be smut in the next chapter.**

 **~MJ**


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